Ludhiana woman lands in jail after refusal to pay tax

LUDHIANA: A Ludhiana court sentenced a city based woman entrepreneur, a resident of Sarabha Nagar locality, to undergo one year rigorous imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 70,000 for failing to pay her income tax liability of Rs 13,54,210 for assessment year 2011-12. The verdict was announced by the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Ludhiana, PS Kaleka on the complaint filed by deputy commissioner of income tax, central circle -1, Ludhiana.
On October 12th, 2010 a raid was conducted by IT department at the accused’s residence at Sarabha Nagar, located at Janakpuri, and several incriminating documents were seized by the department.On July 1st, 2012 a notice under Section 142(1) of the Income Tax Act was issued to her for failing to file her ITR for the assessment year 2011-12. She later declared an income of Rs 41,12,499 but didn't deposit the tax which was in tune of Rs 13,54,210.
After her failure to deposit the tax, the department again issued a notice on January 14th, 2013 which again was not adhered to by the accused. Thereafter a penalty of Rs 20,000 was imposed on her and a show cause notice was issued to her but she did not file her reply. After the accused failed to cooperate fully, a case was filed by IT department against her and in the due course the accused pleaded that she is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the matter.
The court on June 13th, 2019 found her guilty and sentenced her to one year of rigorous imprisonment.